Mick Malthouse was displeased that one of his players was out in the early hours of the morning. Photograph: Joe Castro

Carlton forward Jeff Garlett has blown his chance to return to the top side after being involved in an early morning brawl outside a bar in Melbourne on the weekend.

Garlett was set for a recall from the VFL to play Gold Coast on Saturday however coach Mick Malthouse took him out of contention following the incident in the CBD at 5am on Sunday. He was taken to hospital and needed stitches to his head, with four men arrested.

Malthouse said the 25-year-old, who hasn’t played in the firsts since round 12, didn’t show enough commitment to the club. “He was in the side on Monday morning and he’s not in the side,” Malthouse said. “Jeff hasn’t got enough points up as far as I’m concerned to walk into the side. He’s a victim and it’s not as if he created that incident but we have a lot of young players here who have to know right from wrong.”

Carlton don’t have a set curfew but Malthouse said players needed to show common sense. “We don’t say don’t go around until 5am but we say be sensible. Jeff now understands that that’s totally unacceptable.”

Garlett is out of contract but Malthouse said the incident wouldn’t have any affect on his long-term prospects at the club. What may impact that is Garlett’s poor form this season. Garlett has kicked just 12 majors for the season after leading the club for goals with 43 in 2013.

Malthouse said Garlett hadn’t handled the extra pressure that came with the Blues losing run.

“If you’re not winning a lot of games you nail the most appropriate player that’s going to have a bearing on the result. “Jeff did kick 40 plus goals last year so he’s going to come under a lot more attention.

“We’ve played Chris Yarren all over the place, played Marc Murphy as a mid so it’s left it up to blokes like Garlett to kick the majority of goals that come from the small forward and he hasn’t coped with that and he’s got to learn to cope with that.”